View source for We are thinking we are free. This is foolishness. We are so much controlled by the material nature, exactly like a small child is pulled by the ear by his mother. "Come here." He comes here. "Go there," and goes

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{{terms|"we are thinking we are free. This is foolishness. We are so much controlled by the material nature, exactly like a small child is pulled by the ear by his mother"}}
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<div id="Lectures" class="section" sec_index="4" parent="compilation" text="Lectures"><h2>Lectures</h2>
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<div id="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" class="sub_section" sec_index="0" parent="Lectures" text="Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures"><h3>Bhagavad-gita As It Is Lectures</h3>
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<div id="LectureonBG213PublicLectureWithGermanTranslationThroughoutHamburgSeptember101969_0" class="quote" parent="Bhagavad-gita_As_It_Is_Lectures" book="Lec" index="66" link="Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Public Lecture With German Translation Throughout -- Hamburg, September 10, 1969" link_text="Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Public Lecture With German Translation Throughout -- Hamburg, September 10, 1969">
<div class="heading">We are conditioned in every step by the laws of material nature. Still, foolishly, we are thinking we are free. This is foolishness. We are so much controlled by the material nature, exactly like a small child is pulled by the ear by his mother. "Come here." He comes here. "Go there," and goes.
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<span class="link">[[Vanisource:Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Public Lecture With German Translation Throughout -- Hamburg, September 10, 1969|Lecture on BG 2.13 -- Public Lecture With German Translation Throughout -- Hamburg, September 10, 1969]]: </span><div style="display: inline;" class="text"><p style="display: inline;">We are conditioned in every step by the laws of material nature. Still, foolishly, we are thinking we are free. This is foolishness. We are so much controlled by the material nature, exactly like a small child is pulled by the ear by his mother. "Come here." He comes here. "Go there," and goes. Just like a dog. A dog may feel very freedom, jumping. But as soon as the master says "Come here," he comes and immediately chained. This is our position. So that is our position, that we are completely under the clutches of material nature, and according to the modes of material nature, we are acting and changing our body in different species of life. So our real business in this human form of life is to get, try to accept the process by which we can get free from this conditioned life. The process is that we have to give up all our false consciousness. We are, under false consciousness, I am thinking, "I am Indian," you are thinking you are German, and the dog is thinking "I am dog," and cat is thinking "I am cat." So this bodily consciousness, bodily concept of life, will keep us conditioned within the material nature. Therefore our first business is how to get free from all these designations. Just like I am putting on this saffron cloth, but I am not saffron cloth. Or you are putting a red cloth or black coat, you are not that cloth. Within the coat, you are the person. Similarly, within the dress, I am the person. So at the present moment we are on the dress consciousness. "I am German dress," "I am Englishman dress," "I am Indian dress." "I am male dress," "I am female dress." So this is called conditioned life. So in this conditioned life we are accepting one type of body, and we are dying. Dying means giving up and being transmigrated, transferred to another body by the laws of material nature. It is not under my control. You cannot say that "After giving up this German body, I shall accept again another German body." That is not in your hands, sir. It is under the laws of nature. You cannot propose. You cannot force material nature. After this body I can get any other body. That is stated here. Tathā dehāntara-prāptiḥ ([[Vanisource:BG 2.13|BG 2.13]]). Another form of body. That form of body may be any one of the 8,400,000 forms of body. Therefore, if we are actually intelligent, we should try for being awakened, or placed in our original body, the spiritual body. That will stop this constant change of body.</p>
<p>So the simple process is, as we are preaching in this Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement, that if you try to understand only what is Kṛṣṇa... Kṛṣṇa or Christ, the same thing. Then you get your original spiritual body. This Kṛṣṇa consciousness can be awakened simply by chanting the mahā-mantra, Hare Kṛṣṇa, or the holy name of God. So keep yourself aloof from four kinds of sinful life and keep always in touch with Kṛṣṇa, and (or) God, Then you go back to home, back to Godhead. This advantage is possible in this human form of life. Otherwise, we are missing the chance. We may be again put in the cycle of that 8,400,000's forms of body. The process is very simple and easy because you can remain in your occupation, in whatever position you are. Simply you chant the holy name of God. Not only Hare Kṛṣṇa. You can chant the holy name of God, Christ. Christ is also the same as Kṛṣṇa. So do it. There is no expenditure, but the profit is very, very great.</p>
<p>So the conclusion is we should not put ourself in the cycle of birth and death continually in 8,400,000 species of life. To stop it and go back to home, back to Godhead, and regain your original spiritual life. (aside:) I can stop it? So thank you very much. If you have got any question on this subject matter, you can ask.</p>
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